James at 7!

James has changed and grown up so much this year! Here's a little about my sweet big boy at seven years.

He's an awesome big brother to Ben. He is absolutely crazy about him. He can't seem to get over the cute factor of Ben and gets so tickled by him. He carries him around, plays with him, loves to babysit him while I'm busy, likes to hold him on the couch before bed, and has to give him lots of kisses before bed. 

He has a love/hate relationship with Jack. Depending on the day, he is either being a super big brother, encouraging Jack, wrestling with him, playing and just having fun together, or they're arguing over every little thing. I do see hope for their future, though! 

He is a sports fanatic. He loves to play and watch any and every sport. His favorites are soccer and football. He played baseball this year and did pretty well but thought it was boring. His best sport is soccer and gives 110% in every game. He is known to be aggressive and have endless energy out there. He has also gotten into golf lately, which started because of his older cousins taking him golfing a lot.  He has begged us for two years now to play flag football with all of his buddies, so we are going to try that out this fall.  Between soccer, football, and Jack starting soccer, it's going to be a busy fall semester!  We will try not to do more than one sport at a time in the future, but it will be hard!

He is a social butterfly and would love to have a friend over every hour of every day if he could. He likes to be in charge too much and the one making up the rules to the games, but besides that, I love to watch him with his friends. They usually go from sport to sport and have lots of friendly competition. 

He loves school and loves to learn. He does not like homework, because it prevents him from being outside playing, but he is always enthusiastic about what he's learning at school. His first grade teacher was very creative and good at challenging the kids. He has a talent for writing, and she did a lot with that. He's an all around good student, who loves math (his favorite), is a great reader, and is really interested in history. He is most passionate about recess, though, and loves to tell me the stats if the playground competitions they have daily. 

He is sweet, thoughtful, kind, sensitive, tender-hearted, smart, perceptive, creative, funny, serious at times, fun-loving, laughs a lot, curious, persistent, argues his point of view to no end, somewhat mischievous, loves to be with older kids, wants to be grown up, adventurous, brave, and very active.

His favorites:
Food- pizza or nachos
Dessert- chocolate pizza or ice cream
Friend- all my friends (Joe, Liam, Charlie, Kelton, Noah, Keely, Boone, David, Issac, Jake and Josh, Tate, Carter, Jack, Jude, Jett, Eliot and Oliver)
Sport to watch- baseball, football, and basketball 
Sport to play- soccer
Activity- build blocks or swim
Game- quirkle
Book- 2010 sports
Subject- math or science 
City to visit- Dallas

Restaurant- Mazzios or Pizza Hut      

Place I want to visit- New York 

Ben at 15 months

Ben is at one of my favorite ages right now.  He is getting so interactive and is such a sweet baby!  Here are a few words to describe him right now...

Laid back

Easy going

Happy

Smiley

Jibber-jabbers like he's speaking a different language

Answers every question you ask him with jibber jabber

Fearless

Loves the water- splashes, puts his head in it

Is like a goat- eats everything, like sand, and it doesn't phase him 

Gives sweet kisses to everyone 

Loooves to be outside

Is a great eater

Size 2T

Very into everything

Busy, constantly getting into cabinets and drawers

Doesn't sit still for long- only sits still for his favorite books right before bed

Loves singing and dancing

A daddy's boy

Gets so excited over his brothers

Gives them lots of hugs on his own

Cackles at James in the car because he's facing him

Doesn't always sleep through the night. Wakes up sometimes several times a night off and on. 

Takes one good nap (finally) from 1-3. 

Starting to walk fast. 

Climbs a lot

Words he says:

Hi

Nigh-nigh

Dada

Nana

Hat

Uh-oh

No (nose)

Ee-I-ee-I (old macdonald)

Wof-wof (dog)

Moo (cow)

Ca-ca (clap clap)

Ca-ca (cracker)

Tick-a-tick-a-tick-a (when tickled)

Choo-choo (train)

Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a (when playing with trains)

Chee (when I take a picture and for peek-a-boo)

9 Months!

Ben is at a really fun age right now.  In the past few months, he has changed from a baby who just observes the world, to a baby who is mobile, engaged, and very interactive!  His first word was "Hi!" (around 7 months), and says "Hahh" (in a southern sounding voice) and waves and people who are smiling at him. He just started saying "Nigh-nigh" to his brothers and daddy before bed and "Bye-bye".  He is so proud of himself.  :)  He is trying so hard to say "mama" and "dada" and moves his mouth to try to get it out.

He loves to go outside and will shreak and kick his legs in excitement when I unlock a door or open the garage.  He also does this when Josh or my mom walk in the room and when we pull up to church.  He also goes nuts when Jack comes up to him and he hasn't seen him in a while.

He started crawling right after he turned 9 months and started slow, but is now crawling all over the place!  He's started pulling up at 8 months and can cruise, although he is not quite comfortable with it yet.

He is just the happiest, sweetest baby and smiles at everyone he sees.  He loves to be where the action is and never seems to grow tired of it, until he gets tired.

He is not a big sleeper. :/  He takes two-three short naps a day (20 minutes - an hour each) and goes down well at night, but wakes up around 4 or 5 am to eat.  He is good about going back to sleep, though, and will sleep until 7ish.  Right now, though, he has a stuffy nose and is waking up about 10 times a night!  Fun times!

He's a great eater and prefers tart fruits and vegetables to bananas and rice cereal...strange!  He loves table foods and will always eat those happily.

He is very portable and will just go with the flow wherever we are!  He is a dream to take out!

He is a big boy, weighing around 26 pounds, and is just solid.  He is starting to wear 18-24 month clothes, because his waist is so thick (exactly the opposite of Jack, who has the Robinson torso).

He is such a joy, and is just adored by this family!

8 Months

Here's a snipit of Ben at 8 months!

Getting very busy
Dives for things all the time
Kicks legs a lot when he's excited
Gasps with excitement when the door to the garage opens
Sweet as can be
Very easy, content baby
Happy just to be around people
Wanting very badly to crawl
Can scoot forward a bit, but mostly goes backwards

7 Months!

Waving
Trying to pull up
Rocking
Babbling
Seeming less like a baby and more interactive
Broke of swaddling
Started sleeping better
Not a good napper
In love with jack
Cuddle bug with James
Sit forever outside
Great eater
Observer
Loves music

6 Months!!

Ben is now 6 months old!  I am in disbelief that he could possibly be half a year.  He has so quickly turned from my tiny newborn to my 22 pound 6 month old!  

He is sitting up now, but is still a little wobbly.  He just started lunging for me when I come near him, and when I walk in the room, he jumps with excitement.  That melts my heart!  His personality is starting to come out in little ways.  When he wants to nurse, he has started grabbing my shirt and burying his head into me.  He is easy going and is an observer.  He is at a very easy stage, where I can set him down on a blanket outside, and he'll sit happily for hours if I'd let him.  

5 Months!

Our sweet Ben is five months old, one of my favorite ages.  We are so in love with our precious third child. I just am in awe of this little gift from God and what pure sweetness he is. He is such a joy to our family, and the older two just couldn't adore him more. It is so much fun to watch James dote on him.  He is always eager to hold him, runs to give him anything he needs or he thinks he may want, and is very good at making him happy!  Jack is really starting to grow into big-brotherhood. He is starting to move from loving on him so much that he was too rough to running to get him toys, singing to him, and laying by him just to be with him (and not pestering him while doing it). I'm so proud of him!!

Ben's personality is really coming out! He is such a happy, happy baby. He coos squeals a lot, and loudly. He smiles very easily, and even when he's not smiling his big smile, he has a pleasant look on his face. Just recently, he has been screaming with excitement when I try to make him laugh. He looooves his daddy and gives him the sweetest smiles when he comes home from work or hasn't seen him in a while. He also cuddles more with him than anybody. He will still go to anyone, although he has had a few episodes of separation anxiety, where he lost it with other people until I got back to  him. Mainly because he was hungry. :) He is such a big boy. He's thick, solid, and strong. He weighs 21 lbs and continues to eat every 2-3 hours. He is a good eater, although he's starting to get distracted by his big brothers. We are in a bad habit of nursing to sleep, but I'm not too worried about it. He's not a good napper (I'm sure due to the fact that he's a third child and not on a schedule), but he sleeps from 8ish to 6ish most nights. He still dislikes the car, but has gotten so much better about this. He can get distracted by toys or James from behind him now. His teething was rough. He woke up one or two times a night for a about a week with each tooth. He seems to have a very happy-go-lucky, content, and easy-going disposition. He is excited by new faces and places and very interactive with people.

We spent every day last week up at school while I volunteered for Grandparents Week, and he stayed happily in my baby-wrap, loving all the action. He was the star of the show, and the cafeteria ladies referred to him as "our baby". :)

He loves the exersaucer, being outside, laying on his back, and going on walks, but most of the time, he just wants to be held. Who can blame him, though!

A few firsts:
rolled over front to back- 8/27
First tooth-9/3
Second tooth-9/13

4 Months!

Ben is 20 pounds and 26.5 inches long.  This puts him in the 98th percentile for weight and 80th for height.  At his check-up, our doctor told us that he is right on track!  He is sleeping through the night every night and working on his first tooth.  Not much else to add about our sweet 4-month-old!

Ben at 3 Months!

19 lbs
Sleeping 11 hrs most nights (8:30/9- 7:30/8)
Very happy disposition
Laid-back
Very smiley, interactive, and talkative
Hates the car and screams at lots of red lights and drive-throughs
Giggles spontaneously , when I laugh at him, and when he's tickled on his thighs
Strong neck
Tries to sit up
Tries to Stand in our laps
Loves to be outside
Has discovered hands and feet
Falls apart when scared with loud noises from jack
Eats every 1 and  1/2 - 2 hours when he's awake.
loves to be sung to and will coo along, especially "adleweis", "in my life" by the Beatles, and "mamas going to buy you a mockingbird" song
Loves to be swaddled and gets really calm aNd waits for his before bed feeding by smacking his lips
Started squealing recently and raising his eyebrows
Gets comments constantly about how much he looks like his bros

2 Months!

My sweet Ben is two months old now!  At his check-up, he weighed 15.24 pounds and was 23.5 inches long, which put him in the 98th percentile for weight and 73rd percentile for height.  Needless to say, he is a chunk!  Things have really turned around here lately with Benjamin.  He is becoming much more content, although he still prefers to be up and moving around.  His doctor said that he thinks he is "a mover and a shaker". He is happiest with new faces, things, rooms, etc, and likes to be facing out and walking around where he can see everything.  The moments when he does snuggle, I just take in, because they don't last long!  He loves to be sung to and will coo along with us.  His diaper changing table is his talking spot, and he just grins and coo's away there!  He's starting to do big, scrunchy-nose smiles.  He already seems to know the difference between James and Jack.  When James holds him, he feels secure, and James can hold him off from crying if he's fidgety.  When Jack holds him when he's fidgety, he'll fall apart much more quickly.  He is starting to talk to James a lot when James engages him.  James is so good with him and just loves to sit and have conversations with him.  Jack adores him in a smothering way.  :)  He kisses him constantly and usually ends up seeing how far he can go before I say, "That's too rough!".  Ben is now sleeping through the night most every night!!!  He sleeps between 6-8 hours each night, from 11-5, 6, or 7.  He is so good about going to bed at night.  We swaddle him, I feed him one last time, and put him down awake.  So thankful for a good sleeper this time!